Dangerous (album)

Infobox Album |
Name = Dangerous
Type = Album
Artist = Michael Jackson


Released = November 26, 1991
Recorded = June 25, 1990 - October 29, 1991
Genre = Pop, Dance-pop, Rock, R&B, New jack swing
Length = 76:58
Label = Epic Records
EK-45400
Producer = Michael Jackson
Teddy Riley
Bill Bottrell
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0hrsa9igb23u link]
*"Q" Rating|4|5 [http://www.q4music.com/nav?page=q4music.review.redirect&fixture_review=119622&resource=119622&fixture_artist=141283 link]
*Robert Christgau (A-) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv192-92.php link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|4|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/cd/review.asp?aid=60043&cf=1650 link]
Last album = "Bad"
(1987)
This album = "Dangerous"
(1991)
Next album = "HIStory"
(1995)
Misc = Singles
Name = Dangerous
Type = studio
Single 1 = Black or White
Single 2 = Remember the Time
Single 3 = In the Closet
Single 4 = Jam
Single 5 = Who Is It
Single 6 = Heal the World
Single 7 = Give In to Me
Single 8 = Will You Be There
Single 9 = Gone Too Soon

"Dangerous" was the first album Michael Jackson released in the 1990s (and his eighth), on November 22, 1991. It became his second to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart, where it spent the next four consecutive weeks. The album sold over 30 million copies worldwide, and shipped seven million copies in the United States; its sales were higher than "Bad"'s,cite web |url=http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=Michael%20Jackson&format=ALBUM&go=Search&perPage=100
title=Gold and Platinum |publisher=Recording Industry Association of America |accessdate=2008-04-27] cite news |first=Kelley L. |last=Carter |title=New jack swing |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/arts/chi-5-things-0810aug10,0,1329158.story |work=Chicago Tribune |date=2008-08-11 |accessdate=2008-08-21 ] making it his second-best selling album, behind "Thriller".

Project

Recording sessions began in Los Angeles at Ocean Way/Record One Studio 2 on June 25, 1990 and ended at Larrabee North and Ocean Way Studio on October 29, 1991 (according to the sleeve notes of the Special Edition of the album), being the most extensive recording project of Jackson's career until that time (over sixteen months compared to the usual six months spent in the recording of his previous three studio albums).

In March 1991, Jackson signed a 15 year, 6 album deal to Sony Music. The press reported that Sony actually handed over $1 billion to Jackson, but that was not the case. At the time, Sony estimated that if the albums Jackson released under the new contract sold at the same level they currently sold, it would generate over $1 billion in profits for them. Additionally, Jackson was awarded the highest royalty rate in the business. By the time the contract expired in March 2006, Michael would have been paid $45 million from Sony ($1 million a year, plus $5 million per album delivered). This does not include money he would have also earned from sales of albums, singles, videos etc. Under this contract, Jackson is estimated to have earned $175 million from album sales alone.

At this point, "Dangerous" was already in the making, under the producing talents of (Quincy Jones recommended) 22 year old New Jack Swing inventor Teddy Riley and Grammy-winner Bill Bottrell. The previous album, "Bad", was Jackson's last designed for the LP industry, conforming to the usual 10-song within 50-minute format, whereas "Dangerous" was a 77-minute, 14-track compilation, which almost dared the capacity of early Nineties compact discs. Consequently, the record was released as a double album in vinyl.

The album was initially released in a large box with a picture of Jackson's eyes, which folded open to reveal the normal cover (painted by pop surrealist Mark Ryden), in pop-up card, with the CD and booklet in the bottom. "Dangerous" was greatly anticipated, as shown by an incident at the Los Angeles International Airport, where a group of armed robbers stole 30,000 copies before its official release. [cite web |url=http://www.beach-bulletin.com/news/articles.asp?articleID=3195 |title=Flashbacks!|accessdate=2007-06-30 |format= |work=beach-bulletin.com ]

Commercial reception

The album was released on November 22, 1991 and early sales were record-breaking, becoming Jackson's fastest-selling ever in the U.S. with 4 million shipped in under 2 months, beating "Bad"'s 4 million in 4 months. It debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 200 album charts, with 326,500 copies sold within one week of release. The album spent four weeks straight at #1, and spent its first 17 weeks inside the "Billboard" 200 top 10. The album managed to spend another week inside the top 10 in its 65th week in the charts, reaching #10, after Jackson received the Grammy Legend Award at the 1993 Grammy Awards. The album saw a huge boost in sales during early 1993 when he also performed at the Super Bowl and conducted his famous interview with Oprah Winfrey. In all, "Dangerous" spent 117 weeks inside the "Billboard" 200, 30 weeks more than "Bad". The RIAA certified "Dangerous" 7x Platinum, for shipping 7 million copies.

In the UK the album was even more successful. It also debuted at #1, holding off the top-spot-big-contender, U2's "Achtung Baby". However, in its second week it was replaced by Queen's "Greatest Hits II", in the aftermath of Freddie Mercury's death. There it spent 23 weeks inside the top 10 (the last being its 69th week, enjoying an amazing staying power) and a total of 96 weeks inside the top 75. The sales of the album stand at 2.1 million, making "Dangerous" one of the UK's best-selling albums of the nineties.

In terms of worldwide sales, in the UK and U.S., "Bad"'s sales were 48% of the total worldwide sales. For "Dangerous" this figure is just 33%, making the album a more successful product internationally. However, the singles released from "Dangerous" were mostly bigger hits in Europe and Australia this time around, and more were released, than the singles from "Bad". There were spectacular sales compared to "Bad" and "Thriller" in many European countries and Australia. Also "Dangerous" sold very well in the new emerging and growing record markets of Asia and South America.

The first single released from the album, "Black or White" was produced and co-written by Bill Bottrell and it was an instant success, Jackson's biggest hit single since "Billie Jean". Successive singles also enjoyed success. The album produced a total of 9 singles around the world (the title track was planned as a single for the end of 1993 but was cancelled), the same number as "Bad". All of them were released in the UK, seven of them reaching the top 10, an achievement never before made by Jackson. The major hits released from the album were "Black or White", "Remember the Time", "In the Closet", "Heal the World", "Who Is It", and "Will You Be There". In the U.S., the singles didn't perform as well as those from "Thriller" or even "Bad", with "Dangerous" producing four top 10 hits out of 7 singles released there ("Bad" had six top 10 singles, of which the first five were all #1 hits - "Dangerous"'s only #1 single was "Black or White").

Jackson supported the album with the Dangerous World Tour. Jackson would not release another full LP of new songs for a decade, with "Invincible" in 2001. The double-disc "HIStory", released in 1995, contained a second disc of new material, coupled with a greatest hits as the first disc.

Music videos

As was becoming the standard for Jackson, the album's music videos were among the most costly and innovative of their time. Several of the music videos taken from the "Dangerous" album had complex storylines and dance sequences, and featured cameo appearances by celebrities. The video for "Jam", directed by David Kellogg, showed Jackson and Michael Jordan playing basketball and dancing together, while "Remember the Time" was set in an Ancient Egyptian palace, and starred Eddie Murphy and Iman as the pharaoh and his queen. The video also featured a cameo by NBA player Magic Johnson. "In the Closet" featured Jackson and supermodel Naomi Campbell as lovers. The director of the video was photographer Herb Ritts, who also photographed Jackson in a series of promotional shots for the release of the "Dangerous" album. The video clip for "Who Is It" is notable as it was directed by David Fincher who later went on direct a number of films including "Se7en", "Fight Club" and "Zodiac".

"Black or White" was originally over ten minutes long, premiering simultaneously on November 14, 1991 on MTV, VH1, BET, and FOX. The video featured one of the earliest examples of computer-generated morphing. The last four minutes of the video also induced much controversy, as it depicted Jackson smashing store windows and destroying a car with a crowbar. However, this destructive behaviour was intended to imply a message of anti-racism and racist graffiti was added in later versions to make the violence more understandable. The music video was also controversial because of Jackson's sexually suggestive dance, which included the crotch grab as well as zipping up his pants. MTV and the other music video networks decided to excise the last four minutes of the "Black or White" video for all subsequent airings, and Jackson issued a statement apologizing to anyone who had been offended, and explaining that he tried to interpret the animal instinct of panthers into a dance. The video featured Macaulay Culkin and an appearance during the morphing scene by young Tyra Banks and was directed by John Landis, also the director of the "Thriller" short film.

pecial editions

Alternative editions of the albums became very rare, products almost exclusive for record collectors. The most notable was an edition released in 1992 that folded out to become a diorama.

An international re-release of the album (entitled "Dangerous - Special Edition") had place on October 16, 2001, just two weeks before the release of Jackson's studio album "Invincible". Simultaneously, "Special Editions" of "Off the Wall", "Thriller" and "Bad" were also released. For the occasion, "Dangerous" was digitally remastered and included a slipcase and a brand new 24-page colorful booklet with revised artwork and previously-unseen photos. The new edition managed to reached #108 in the UK charts (the only one of those four re-releases that didn't enter the Top 75 there). Because of the constraints of "Dangerous running time, previously unreleased songs were not included, however many of them were eventually leaked onto the internet along with various demos of other tracks that appeared on the album. In 2004, some of these leaked tracks were officially released on ' (namely the "Dangerous" demo and "Monkey Business").

Music awards

American Music Awards:
*Best Pop/Rock Album, "Dangerous"
*Best Soul/R&B Single, "Remember The Time"
*Special International Artist Award for record sales and humanitarian efforts around the worldBMI Awards:
*Two of the Most Performed Songs of the Year, "Black or White" and "Remember The Time"Grammy Awards: Living Legend AwardGuinness Book Of World Records:
*25th Silver Anniversary Entertainer of the Year Award
*Outstanding Music Video, "Black or White"Soul Train Awards:
*Best R&B Single, "Remember The Time"
*Best R&B Album, "Dangerous"World Music Awards:
*Best Selling American Artist
*World's Best Selling Pop Artist [ [http://membres.lycos.fr/mig76/awards2.htm Michael Jackson Awards ] ]

Track listing

CD

#"Jam" (René Moore, Bruce Swedien, Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley) – 5:39
#"Why You Wanna Trip on Me" (Teddy Riley, Bernard Belle) – 5:24
#"In the Closet" (Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley) – 6:31
#"She Drives Me Wild" (Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley. Rap lyrics by Aquil Davidson) – 3:41
#"Remember the Time" (Teddy Riley, Michael Jackson, Bernard Belle) – 4:00
#"Can't Let Her Get Away" (Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley) – 4:58
#"Heal the World" (Michael Jackson) – 6:24
#"Black or White" (Michael Jackson. Rap lyrics by Bill Bottrell; features guitarist Slash) – 4:15
#"Who Is It" (Michael Jackson) – 6:34
#"Give In to Me" (Michael Jackson, Bill Bottrell; features guitarist Slash) – 5:29
#"Will You Be There" (Michael Jackson) – 7:40
#"Keep the Faith" (Glen Ballard, Siedah Garrett, Michael Jackson) – 5:57
#"Gone Too Soon" (Larry Grossman, Buz Kohan) – 3:26
#"Dangerous" (Michael Jackson, Bill Bottrell, Teddy Riley) – 6:57

LP

*Side One
#"Jam" (René Moore, Bruce Swedien, Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley) – 5:39
#"Why You Wanna Trip on Me" (Teddy Riley, Bernard Belle) – 5:24
#"In the Closet" (Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley) – 6:31

*Side Two
#"She Drives Me Wild" (Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley. Rap lyrics by Aquil Davidson) – 3:41
#"Remember the Time" (Teddy Riley, Michael Jackson, Bernard Belle) – 4:00
#"Can't Let Her Get Away" (Michael Jackson, Teddy Riley) – 4:58
#"Heal the World" (Michael Jackson) – 6:24

*Side Three
#"Black or White" (Michael Jackson. Rap lyrics by Bill Bottrell; features guitarist Slash) – 4:15
#"Who Is It" (Michael Jackson) – 6:34
#"Give In to Me" (Michael Jackson, Bill Bottrell; features guitarist Slash) – 5:29

*Side Four
#"Will You Be There" (Michael Jackson) – 7:40
#"Keep the Faith" (Glen Ballard, Siedah Garrett, Michael Jackson) – 5:57
#"Gone Too Soon" (Larry Grossman, Buz Kohan) – 3:26
#"Dangerous" (Michael Jackson, Bill Bottrell, Teddy Riley) – 6:57

ingles

#October 1991 - "Black or White" U.S. #1 / UK #1
#January 1992 - "Remember the Time" U.S. #3 / UK #3
#April 1992 - "In the Closet" U.S. #6 / UK #8
#July 1992 (U.S.); September 1992 (UK) - "Jam" U.S. #26 / UK #12
#August 1992 (Europe); February 1993 (U.S.) - "Who Is It" U.S. #14 / UK #10
#October 1992 - "Heal the World" U.S. #27 / UK #2
#February 1993 - "Give In to Me" UK #2 (Europe only single)
#May 1993 - "Will You Be There" U.S. #7 / UK #8
#November 1993 - "Gone Too Soon" UK #33 (UK only single)

Certifications

Chart positions

References

ee also

*Dangerous World Tour

succession box
before = "Achtung Baby" by U2
title = "Billboard" 200 number-one album
years = December 14, 1991 - January 10, 1992
after = "Nevermind" by Nirvanasuccession box
before = "We Can't Dance" by Genesis
title = UK number one album
years = November 30, 1991 – December 6, 1991
after = "Greatest Hits II" by Queensuccession box
before = "Achtung Baby" by U2
title = Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
years = December 8, 1991 - January 18, 1992
after = "Diamonds and Pearls"
by Prince and the New Power Generation